My Beautiful Friend
by Luthien-Anwaman
Summary: A JoeyxMai songfic to Guy Sebastian's My Beautiful Friend. A one-shot JM


**Lu:** This is a songfic to Guy Sebastian's "My Beautiful Friend". For people who don't know who Guy is, he was the winner of Australian Idol. He did compete in World Idol, and he sang "What a Wonderful World". But this song is pretty slow. If you go to his website, http/ you can listen to a tiny little preview of it. But anyway, on with the story! 

**Yami Lu:** Well, as you may be able to guess, this is a JoeyxMai fic, like all of her others. Stupid couple... inaudible muttering

**Lu:** This couple is good! One last thing: because of new rule, I have had to remove the lyrics from this chapter. This is now a fic based on Guy Sebastian's My Beautiful Friend.

* * *

Mai slammed the door behind her. She didn't know where she was going to go, or what she was going to do. All she knew was that she wasn't going back there. Not ever.

She began to walk slowly down the street, dragging a small but heavy suitcase behind her. It was pitch black, the only light coming from the dim street lamps. A cold, sharp breeze swept down the small street, ruffling her long blonde hair. A few tears escaped her violet eyes as she thought about how she had been betrayed.

She had trusted that sleaze. He had said that he would help her, protect her. But Varon had betrayed her. He had tried to get something from her that she didn't want to give, not to him at least. Her love.

"Hey babe, where are you goin'?" asked a gruff voice. She ignored it, and continued walking. Nobody cared about her. All they saw was her body. She sighed. She wanted someone to hold her, to care for her. But she knew it was just wishful thinking. Nobody actually cared about her, just her looks.

-

Joey sighed and strolled carelessly out onto the balconey of his apartment. His father had been out since first thing that morning, leaving Joey alone all day. That was how he liked it. Nobody had called him to see how he was, or to invite him over. That was how he liked it. Yugi, Tristan and Tea were on camp, but Joey couldn't afford to go. So he was on his own all holidays.

The same breeze that had ruffled Mai's hair moments earlier now played with Joey's golden-blonde hair. Joey's gaze shifted from the street to the sky. His thoughts drifted and finally locked onto one person: Mai Valentine.

'Man, Mai, we haven't seen you in ages. I wish you at least gave us your email or somethin', so we could talk... I miss Mai,' he thought. He gave another depressed sigh. 'But she's probably in America or somethin' by now. I mean, we haven't seen her for months now.'

A drop of water hit his nose. He looked up. Another raindrop hit his cheek. He wrinkled his nose, but didn't move. He didn't mind the rain.

He looked down to the street, wanting to see how the kids in the park would react to the sudden spitting of rain from above. Most of them were running to their parents, dragging them back towards their warm homes and loving families.

Someone else caught his eye. Someone with long blonde hair was dragging a suitcase down the sidewalk. He followed their progress for a while, until they brushed their hair out of their eyes. This revealed a familiar face.

"Mai?" shouted Joey. She looked up.

"Joey?" she asked, her eyes widening.

Joey leapt down the stairs three at a time. 'Mai's back!' was all he could think. By the time he got outside, Mai had made her way to the door. Before she could say anything, Joey drew her into a big hug.

"You're back!" he said joyfully, withdrawing. Mai remained silent. "Mai?" said Joey, concern now appearing in his eyes. Mai sniffed. "Mai, what happened? What's de matter?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," said Mai.

"OK..." said Joey hesitantly. "So, do you want to come in?"

Mai paused for a second, and then nodded. They walked back up to Joey's apartment in silence. Joey opened the door and held it back for Mai. She entered.

"Mai, will you please tell me what happened now?" asked Joey, after they had both taken a seat on his sofa. Mai took a deep, shuddering breath. Her lip started trembling. "Mai?" asked Joey softly.

"Varon... he told me that he loved me... but he wanted my love in return... and that doesn't belong to him... but he didn't care... he tried to keep me in the house, but I managed to get out... I was just walking down here trying to find somewhere to sleep when you saw me..." she said quietly, and she broke into silent tears. She wasn't expecting any comfort or help from Joey, but was surprised when she felt Joey's warm arms around her shoulders, pulling her towards him.

"It's OK Mai, I'm here now," he said gently. Mai accepted the embrace gratefully, glad that someone was caring for her. She buried her head into his chest, making Joey blush.

"Thank you, Joey," she whispered.

"Mai, do you want to stay here for a while?" asked Joey, pulling away from their hug.

"That would be great, Joey," said Mai, smiling widely. Joey grinned back.

"Hey Mai, you hungry?" he asked. Mai nodded. "I'll call pizza," he continued. He got up, and headed into the kitchen, leaving Mai on her own.

'Well, Joey's certainly grown up. But then again, maybe he was grown up in the first place,' thought Mai. 'I missed him. I missed him a lot."

Joey entered the room again, grinning. "Well, Miss Valentine, do you want to get changed out of dose wet clothes?" he asked sarcastically.

Mai snorted. "Whatever you say, Mr Wheeler," she retorted.

"Dis way, Mai," said Joey, gesturing for her to stand up. Mai stood up and picked up her suitcase. He led her into a small room with a double bed.

"Sorry Mai, but one of us will have to sleep on de floor unless you don't mind sharin' de bed," said Joey. Mai looked confused.

"Wasn't there another room back there with a bed?" she asked.

"Yes," said Joey in a dead serious voice. "My dads. He's... out right now."

"Then why can't one of us sleep there?" questioned Mai.

"No. You see..." began Joey. 'Can I really tell her? Nobody but Yugi, Tea and Tristan know. I've never told anyone else. Can I really let Mai know?" he thought.

"What? What is it?" said Mai.

"My dad's an alcoholic," said Joey bitterly. "He sometimes comes home so drunk dat he starts hurtin' me. He doesn't know what he's doin'. He blames me for my mum and Seren leavin'. He blames me for him bein' an alcoholic. He blames me for anythin' bad dat ever happens to him. And I don't know what to do." He sniffed, but didn't start crying. It wasn't his style to show his emotions.

"Oh, Joey," said Mai in an amazed voice. "Why don't you see someone about it?"

"I'm not turnin' in my own father for child abuse!" said Joey incredulously. "No matter how much he hurts me, he's still my dad."

Mai felt really bad. Joey had just been comforting her because of a little social problem, but he had even bigger problems.

'Why did I tell her?' Joey asked himself. 'She doesn't care.' But he was proved wrong when Mai drew him into another embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Joey," she whispered. Joey suddenly felt weak. Very weak. Any emotional barriers he had set up over the years came crashing down. This was the first time anyone had held him in a very long time. He started to cry. He sat down on the bed, followed closely by Mai, who then lay his head in her lap and stroked his hair.

"It's OK, Joey," she said in a soothing voice. "No one's going to hurt you now. I'm here for you."

Joey sobbed for ten minutes, listening to Mai's comforting voice and feeling her gentle touch.

"Thanks Mai," he said after a while, sitting up and wiping his eyes. "I really needed dat. Dat's de first time I've cried in ages."

"Everyone needs to have a good cry sometimes," said Mai, smiling sadly.

"I suppose we're both goin' through some difficult times now, huh?" said Joey.

"Sounds like you've been going through them for a while now," said Mai. Joey nodded solemnly.

"Ever since mum and Seren left. Dat was... maybe 10 years ago now," said Joey in a depressed voice.

"Well, we can help each other for a while," said Mai.

"Anyway, Mai, what will it be?" asked Joey.

"What?" said Mai, confused.

"Do you mind sleepin' in de same bed as me, or do you want me to sleep on de floor?" he said.

"I don't mind sleeping in the same bed as you," she answered, smiling slightly. A pink tint appeared in Joey's cheeks.

"Really?" he asked.

"Of course not," she said, hitting him playfully on the shoulder.

The doorbell rang. "What? I sure hope dat's not my dad," said Joey fearfully.

"Joey, you ordered pizza twenty minutes ago," said Mai.

"Oh, right," said Joey in relief, blushing slightly. He got up and went out into the living room. He was back seconds later holding a box of pizza.

"Mai, you seen my wallet anywhere?" he asked.

"No, how could I?" said Mai. Joey started tearing the room apart, making it more messy than it already was. Mai noticed Joey's wallet sticking out of his back pocket. She leant forward and grabbed it.

"Oh, Joey," said Mai in a singsong voice. Joey turned around to her, his eyes searching frantically around for his wallet. Mai waved it in front of his face. His eyes brightened. He reached out to snatch it from her, but she moved it out of his reach.

"Say please," she said. Joey growled and pounced on her, knocking her over. He wrestled her, and grabbed his wallet.

"Please," he said, walking out the door. Mai laughed, and picked herself up. Joey emerged seconds later, and grabbed the pizza. They both walked into the small living area, and sat down on the saggy couch. Joey opened the box and extracted a piece of pizza, which he then proceeded to consume it in a rather immature manner.

"Here Mai, have some," he said, pushing the box towards Mai. Mai grabbed a piece and ate it nearly as quickly as Joey had eaten his.

"And people tell me dat I eat fast," said Joey, grinning.

After they had finished the pizza, which took a surprisingly short time, they started talking.

"So Mai, what have you been up to?" asked Joey, chocolate brown eyes gazing deep into her violet ones. Mai would usually have replied with a rude remark, or even just ignored it completely. But now was different. Joey was taking care of her.

"Nothing much. I went to Tokyo for a while, but it was too busy compared to Domino, so I came back. Things didn't work out, and I ended up homeless, until Varon took me in. But now..." she trailed off. She could feel the tears trying to come out again, but she wouldn't let them. "Anyway, what have you been doing?"

"Yuge, Tea and Tristan went on camp, but I couldn't afford it, so I'm stuck in Domino on my own. Serenity's still livin' with her mum, and dey've moved even further away, so I don't see her dat often anymore," said Joey sadly. "I was hopin' to see you here soon, 'cause we haven't seen you in ages. I'm glad you showed up."

Mai now felt something towards Joey that she had never felt before. She suddenly felt her cheeks turn red. She got up, feeling uncomfortable sitting next to him. Walking out onto the balconey, she leant against the railing. Looking up into the now deep blue sky, she sighed.

Joey, seeing Mai suddenly leave him, followed her. He stood next to her, but didn't look out onto the road. He looked at her. The way the now gentle breeze blew her hair to and fro. The way her eyes sparkled as she saw the stars twinkling in the sky. The way she was herself all the time.

"Mai..." began Joey, but then he choked slightly. 'Why am I suddenly so nervous around her?" he asked himself. Mai turned to him, smiling slightly.

"Mai, umm... I'm really glad you came... err... there's something I need to tell you... I think... I think I... umm... I think I love you Mai," stammered Joey, forcing the words out quickly. Mai gasped.

"Joey..." she said softly. Joe sighed.

"I understand Mai. I'm sorry I sprung dis on you like dat, just when you're tryin' to get over what dat jerk did to you. I'm sorry," he said dejectedly, and began to walk back inside. But Mai stopped him, grabbing onto his arm and spinning him around.

"Joey... I think I love you too," said Mai, shaking her head. Joey's face brightened.

"Really?" he asked lightly.

"Yes... I do," confirmed Mai. Joey suddenly drew her into a tight hug. Mai returned it, now feeling complete.

"You're really beautiful Mai," whispered Joey into Mai's ear. Mai giggled. "No, seriously. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen," said Joey. Mai smiled, a cherry blossom tint appearing in her cheeks.

Mai and Joey were now sitting inside, talking. They were sharing a packet of biscuits. They both reached in at the same time, and their hands touched. They both looked up, blushing. Joey then took Mai's hand in his, and held it tightly.

"Are you sure you're over Varon now?" asked Joey in a concerned voice. Mai nodded, her face grave.

"I'm over what he did to me. I feel a whole lot better now, thanks to you, Joey," she said calmly. "Thank you Joey, thanks for all your help. I couldn't have got over him without you."

"I'm glad I could help," said Joey cheerfully. "It's great to help anyone, especially the ones you love." Mai blushed. She closed her eyes and leaned in. Joey, realising what she was doing, moved his face slowly towards hers.

Their lips met.

After they broke away, they both blushed again.

"I know I love you Mai," breathed Joey, his eyes closing again as if savouring the kiss. Mai put her arms around his shoulders.

"I love you too Joey," she murmured. They closed their eyes, and felt their minds slipping into dreams. But they last thing they thought was

'I love you...'

* * *

**Lu:** How was that? That was my first attempt at a songfic, so please tell me how I went. Honestly. Anyway, if you enjoyed this, read my other stories – Mind Game and The New Tournament. Also read Shadow of Reality, written by Inwe-Linwelin. And if you like Harry Potter, try Together at Last, by AngieBob. They're all on my fav. authors!

**Yami Lu:** Well, that could have been worse. You could have hooked up Yami Bakura with Mai or something. He doesn't like any of those nice people. Tomb Robbers rule!

**Lu:** Review!


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